The Great Mortality
An Intimate History of the Black Death, the Most Devastating Plague of All Time
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4.0 • 52 Ratings
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
“Powerful, rich with details, moving, humane, and full of important lessons for an age when weapons of mass destruction are loose among us.” — Richard Rhodes, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Making of the Atomic Bomb
The Great Plague is one of the most compelling events in human history—even more so now, when the notion of plague has never loomed larger as a contemporary public concern.
The plague that devastated Asia and Europe in the 14th century has been of never-ending interest to both scholarly and general readers. Many books on the medieval plague rely on statistics to tell the story: how many people died; how farm output and trade declined. But statistics can’t convey what it was like to sit in Siena or Avignon and hear that a thousand people a day are dying two towns away. Or to have to chose between your own life and your duty to a mortally ill child or spouse. Or to live in a society where the bonds of blood and sentiment and law have lost all meaning, where anyone can murder or rape or plunder anyone else without fear of consequence.
In this compelling work of narrative history, The Great Mortality, author John Kelly lends an air of immediacy and intimacy to his telling of the journey of the plague as it traveled from the steppes of Russia, across Europe, and into England, killing 75 million people—one third of the known population—before it vanished.
This intimate narrative history of the Black Death explores:
An Intimate History: Go beyond cold statistics to discover what it was like for individuals to hear that a thousand people a day were dying two towns away, forcing them to choose between their own lives and their duty to a mortally ill child or spouse.The Spread of a Pandemic: Follow the relentless journey of the bubonic plague as it traveled from the steppes of Russia, across the devastated landscapes of 14th-century Europe, and into England.Societal Collapse: Witness a world where the bonds of blood, sentiment, and law lost all meaning, and anyone could act without fear of consequence.A Warning From the Past: Understand the full story of the most compelling event in human history, which killed 75 million people and holds important lessons for our own time.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The Black Death raced across Europe from the 1340s to the early 1350s, killing a third of the population. Drawing on recent research as well as firsthand accounts, veteran author Kelly (Three on the Edge, etc.) describes how infected rats, brought by Genoese trading ships returning from the East and docked in Sicily, carried fleas that spread the disease when they bit humans. Two types of plague seem to have predominated: bubonic plague, characterized by swollen lymph nodes and the bubo, a type of boil; and pneumonic plague, characterized by lung infection and spitting blood. Those stricken with plague died quickly. Survivors often attempted to flee, but the plague was so widespread that there was virtually no escape from infection. Kelly recounts the varied reactions to the plague. The citizens of Venice, for example, forged a civic response to the crisis, while Avignon fell apart. The author details the emergence of Flagellants, unruly gangs who believed the plague was a punishment from God and roamed the countryside flogging themselves as a penance. Rounding up and burning Jews, whom they blamed for the plague, the Flagellants also sparked widespread anti-Semitism. This is an excellent overview, accessible and engrossing.
Customer Reviews
Average
While reading it felt like this book goes off topic frequently, and when it does it takes an agonizingly long time to get back on track. In between these episodes there is a story about the Black Death that is fascinating and that I wanted more of, but was forced to go through pages of unrelated and unimportant background information to continue it. It felt like before publishing no one could decide what background details were important and relevant so they were all left in making for a disjointed reading experience.